Customers can still enroll for Jio Prime membership by paying Rs 99 along with the first recharge of Rs 303 or higher until April 15.ETtech | Updated: April 01, 2017, 11:11 IST

Reliance Jio has extended the deadline for purchasing its prime membership by 15 days to April 15, 2017. The company said that customers can still enroll for the membership by paying Rs 99 along with the first recharge of Rs 303 or higher until April 15.

"This extension will provide the necessary breathing room for users to avoid service disruption during the transition from free to paid services" Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh D Ambani said in a letter to Jio customers.

Reliance Jio also announced an initiative called Jio Summer surprise that will offer 3 months free service to Jio Prime customers who make their first paid recharge for Rs 303 and above. The paid tariff plans will be applied only in July 2017, after the expiry of the complimentary service.

"The Jio Summer Surprise is the first of many surprises for our Jio Prime members. This complimentary period will also help to familiarize Jio customers with Jio’s fully digital, self-service process of using the MyJio app to perform recharges and to set up digital payment methods for further purchases." Ambani added in the letter.

Apart from this, Reliance Jio also claimed that over 72 million customers have signed up for prime membership service that was launched last month with a price tag of Rs 99.

That said, Reliance Jio's completely free run is coming to an end after six months. In the letter to customers, Ambani said that they are ending the free service period and users who do not recharge by April 15 will witness "degradation and/or discontinuation of services."

"I am conscious that this is the largest migration from free to paid services in history. We are committed to doing this gradually, so that both Jio and Jio customers have the time to adjust, fine tune and perfect this transition." Ambani added in the letter.